


Worth the Wait

by mikkimouse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Post-Season 2, Silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-07
Updated: 2017-03-07
Packaged: 2018-09-30 05:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10155089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikkimouse/pseuds/mikkimouse
Summary: The Castle of the Lions is huge. Even after living in it for as long as he has, Keith still boggles sometimes at how freakingbigit is. With only seven people and five sentient robot Lions living there, he could spend days wandering the halls and never run across another person.And yet, finding a time that he and Shiro can be alone, without any interruptions, isimpossible.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The title of this Word document was _Five Times Shiro and Keith Get Cockblocked by Everyone on the Damn Castle,_ so that should tell you pretty much everything you need to know. 
> 
> Thank you to [paintedrecs](http://paintedrecs.tumblr.com/) & [domesticated-chaos](http://domesticated-chaos.tumblr.com/) for the beta read!
> 
> Set post-s2. If you're going "BUT WAIT HOW DID SHIRO--", consider it a loose sequel to [this not!fic.](https://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/post/156720041505/part-two-part-one-voltron-season-2-spoilers)
> 
> If I've missed any tags, please let me know!

**1\. Lance**  
  
"And so Pidge and I come running up to the bar, just in time to see Lance and Hunk get thrown out on their ears," Keith says. "Lance immediately gets up and yells, 'Excuse you, I make a _beautiful_ space hooker!'"

Shiro laughs heartily and nearly chokes on his drink. "That's Lance, all right."

Keith leans back in his chair and smiles at the memory. "At least they got the information we needed, but I don't think we can show our faces on that moon again. I told him that was the last time they were going undercover alone."

Shiro laughs again, softer this time, but it still makes Keith's heart beat faster. He didn't think they'd get a chance to do this again, to sit together and talk and laugh. From the fondness in Shiro's eyes, Keith wonders if he's thinking the same thing. 

Shiro reaches across the table and takes his hand, running his thumb along Keith's. "Thank you for taking care of them." 

Keith wants to make a joke, to say something flippant and funny, but the words won't come. He turns his hand so they're palm-to-palm, and links his fingers with Shiro's. "We missed you."

Shiro's mouth twitches up, just a bit. "We?" 

Keith looks away, but he can feel the heat in his cheeks. " _I_ missed you." 

Shiro squeezes his hand until Keith looks back at him, and says, "I missed you, too." 

Keith swallows. The moment feels heavy, important, like they just admitted to something weightier than a simple _I missed you_. He finds himself leaning forward, moving closer, but Shiro's moving closer, too, and—

"There you guys are!" 

He jerks back and pulls his hand away, and Lance strides into the lounge in his swim trunks with a towel slung around his neck. 

"We've been looking all over for you two," Lance says, and hooks his thumb over his shoulder. "Come on, it's paladin pool party time!" 

"Paladin pool party?" Keith repeats, still trying to adjust to the whiplash of the mood. 

"Paladin. Pool. Party," Lance says slowly. "It's where you put on your swimsuits and go play in the pool and see how many times Hunk can dunk Pidge before she tries to claw his eyes out."

Shiro raises an eyebrow and stifles a laugh. "You really sure that's an activity you should be encouraging?" 

Lance shrugs. "They seem to enjoy it. Now come on! We can't have a paladin pool party without our fearless leader. Leaders? Have you guys figured out how that's going to work yet?" 

Keith exchanges a glance with Shiro, who seems untroubled by the statement. "No, we haven't, but—" 

"But we'll discuss it soon," Shiro says. "And we'll be right down." 

"Score!" Lance says, and rushes off. 

Keith wants to groan, but before he can stand up to go get his damn swimsuit, Shiro catches his hand again.

"Hey," Shiro says. "Come by my bunk later, after dinner?" 

His heart leaps into his throat, and Keith nods. "Yeah, I can do that." 

 

**2\. Pidge**  
  
The pool party is fun (Hunk manages to dunk Pidge once, but she gets her revenge roughly three thousand times), but Keith spends the entire time sneaking glances at Shiro. He's probably being blatantly obvious, but he can't help it. He still can't really believe Shiro's back, and his fingers itch to touch, to trace the scars on his skin until he knows the pattern by heart. 

It's a delicious kind of torture to sit there and watch Pidge clamber up onto Shiro's shoulders to engage in a water fight with Lance (who's commandeered Hunk as his trusty steed), Shiro's laugh echoing with the rest of them in the cavernous pool room. It makes Keith's heart clench, and he thinks about how right it feels to have Shiro back, how much losing him left a hole that was impossible to fill. They did okay without him, found a way to make it work, but it hadn't been the same. 

They all eat after the pool party—Keith will never understand what it is about swimming that leaves him starving—and then he heads to the showers. He can feel the flutter of his nervous heartbeat in his fingers. No, it's not nerves—it's anticipation. 

He dries off and dresses quickly, and runs to Shiro's bunk without _looking_ like he's running to Shiro's bunk. There's no one in the hall to see, but still. Appearances. 

He stops in front of Shiro's door and drags a hand through his hair, trying to put it in some sort of order, and raises his hand to knock. 

The door slides open before Keith makes contact, and Shiro's right there. 

His eyes widen in surprise, and then soften with a smile. "I was about to come looking for you." 

Keith shrugs, and hopes it looks casual. "I had to shower. I smelled like pool." 

"Hm." Shiro gets a glint in his eyes, and leans in close. "You smell pretty nice to me." 

Keith's mouth goes dry. 

"Hey!" 

He leaps halfway across the hall at Pidge's voice. 

She runs up to them, computer cradled in her arms, wires and cords dangling in her wake. "Keith, I've been looking for you! Actually, I've been looking for both of you. I've been working on a device that I think could really give the castle a boost, and I just had a major breakthrough!" 

Keith's first reaction is to yell at her for the interruption, but he holds it in check. Pidge busts her ass to learn all she can about alien technology so that they have the information and edge they need in battle. Yelling won't help anything.

"That's great, Pidge, but shouldn't Hunk or Coran be your first stop?" Shiro asks. "You know we're not as good with the tech stuff." 

Pidge kicks her foot back toward the hangars. "They're already back there. It's ready to show. Can you guys come? Please?" 

Keith wants to say no, but Pidge is giving them both huge puppy eyes and damn it, he's a horrible person but he's not that horrible. "Yeah, sure. We'll come take a look." 

Pidge lights up. "Thanks!" 

She practically bounces down the hall, and Keith looks back to Shiro. "Rain check?" he asks apologetically. 

Shiro smiles and falls into step beside him. "I'll hold you to that." 

 

**3\. Coran**  
  
It's early when someone knocks on Keith's door. At first, he thinks he's dreaming, but the noise remains both quiet and insistent. 

Keith stumbles to the door, rubbing sleep from his eyes. It takes him two tries to slap the panel to open it, and he nearly falls right into the person on the other side. 

It's Shiro. 

Keith blinks and rubs his eyes again, half-convinced he has to be dreaming. Or hallucinating. One of the two. 

But no, Shiro is still standing there, wearing a shy, uncertain smile. 

"Shiro," Keith says, because he isn't quite awake yet. "What are you—" 

"I thought I would—" Shiro clears his throat and scratches the back of his head. "Sorry, I know it's early, but I was having trouble sleeping and I thought you might...want to come to the training deck with me." 

Keith frowns. "To...practice?" 

Shiro looks away. His cheeks are pink. "Well...yes. And..." He sighs and shakes his head. "Never mind. It was a dumb idea." 

He's starting to turn away when Keith finally processes what he's saying and _oh_. Oh. 

He grabs Shiro's hand before he can get too far. 

"If you need sleep, my bed's pretty comfortable," Keith blurts out. 

As lines go, it's not that great (although it certainly isn't as bad as some of the ones he's heard Lance use), but Shiro's smile turns hopeful. 

Keith gives him a tug, and Shiro steps into his room. The door slides shut behind him, and although the castle wasn't exactly loud, everything seems quieter now that it's just the two of them in the room. They're standing just inches apart, and Keith knows he should probably let go of Shiro's hand, but he really can't bring himself to do so. 

"I didn't mean to wake you up," Shiro says. 

Keith snorts. "Sure you didn't." 

"I'd _hoped_ I wasn't waking you up." 

Keith shrugs one shoulder. "I don't mind." 

He'll never mind finding Shiro on the other side of his door, no matter what time it is. 

Keith doesn't remember moving, but somehow they're even closer now, so that their chests almost brush with every breath. He's never been more aware of another person in his entire life; he can hear the soft mechanical hum of Shiro's metal arm, the hitch of his breath. Each exhale ghosts warmly across his cheek, and he _wants_. 

He lifts his free hand to put it on Shiro's chest, spreading his fingers over his heart. He wants to feel it beating, wants to be reminded that Shiro is here and alive and choosing to be with him. 

"Keith," Shiro whispers, and bends forward. 

The castle's klaxons blare. Keith jolts, and his heart starts beating faster for entirely different and more unpleasant reasons. 

"Paladins, battle stations!" Coran calls over the coms. 

Keith looks at Shiro, and knows he doesn't have to explain. 

Shiro squeezes his hand. "Let's go." 

They make it to the bridge, dressed and ready, in record time, and Keith heads straight for Coran. "What is it?" he demands. "Zarkon's fleet? A Robeast?" 

Coran taps the control panel in front of him and grins. "A training exercise!" 

"A..." Keith processes the words through the haze of exhaustion, horniness, and adrenaline. "A training exercise." 

"Yes!" Coran spreads his arms wide. "Thought it might be a good idea to put you all through the paces a bit, since it's been so long since you've all flown together." 

_Since Shiro fought beside you_ , Keith hears. 

"And you all passed with flying colors!" Coran finishes. "Quite a remarkable change from the first time we did this exercise, eh?" 

Keith is going to _strangle_ him. 

 

**4\. Hunk**  
  
The Castle of the Lions is huge. Even after living in it for as long as he has, Keith still boggles sometimes at how freaking _big_ it is. With only seven people and five sentient robot Lions living there, he could spend days wandering the halls and never run across another person. 

And yet, finding a time that he and Shiro can be alone, without any interruptions, is _impossible_.

It's been two days since Shiro came to him early in the morning, and Keith is about thirty seconds away from climbing the walls. His skin feels like it's buzzing constantly, and he's aware of Shiro during day-to-day life in a way he really hadn't been...well, ever. He was always _aware_ of Shiro, yes, but now it's like that awareness has had the dial turned all the way up and broken off. 

Maybe it's because before, he thought this attraction was one-sided. Now that he knows it isn't, it takes everything in him not to drag Shiro into his room, slap a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, and spend the next few hours ignoring their coms.

Unfortunately, that isn't really a workable solution at the moment, something Keith finds himself regretting as he finishes up in the training deck. They still have to be available at a moment's notice, and that means they can't ignore the coms. No matter how much he really, _really_ wants to.

Still, it's been pretty quiet today. Keith heads toward the showers, tapping his bayard against his thigh thoughtfully. He pauses halfway there and makes a U-turn to head back down the hallway to Shiro's room. 

Shiro looks both pleased and surprised to see him. "Hey!" 

Keith gestures back toward the showers with his chin. "I just finished training, was going to go clean up. Thought you might like to join me in the showers." 

Shiro raises his eyebrows, and his eyes darken a fraction. "I'm already clean." 

Keith smirks. "Well, we can fix that." 

He's inordinately happy that Shiro follows him without another word. 

They make it to the showers, and Keith turns around to grab Shiro by the collar and haul him in for a kiss. 

"Hey, I've been looking all over for you guys!" Hunk calls from down the hallway.

Shiro groans, and Keith is going to _kill_ someone. 

He can't even pretend not to be a little irritated when Hunk comes jogging up to them. "What?" Keith snaps.

"Dude, dinner time?" Hunk says. "We've been trying to get you on the coms for like fifteen minutes."

There's no way it's been that long. Keith sighs. "We'll be there in a bit. I need to shower." 

"Psh, come on, we've been living together for how long now? We all know what your funk smells like," Hunk says. "Nobody cares. We've been waiting on you two, and I'm starving." 

Keith debates the merits of threatening Hunk into leaving them alone versus actually saying _We're going into the shower to make out until the water goes cold, eat without us._

But it's their team, and eating at least one meal together every day is something both he and Shiro have insisted on in the past. And from the look of resignation on Shiro's face, Keith's guessing he's thinking the same thing. 

"We're coming," Shiro says. 

Hunk looks inordinately relieved, and he starts back down the hall. "Great! I'll tell the others they can start dishing up." 

"No one's coming now," Keith mutters once Hunk is out of earshot.

Shiro chokes on his laughter.

 

**5\. Allura**  
  
"That was a good training session," Keith says, swiping his sleeve over his sweaty forehead. 

Shiro drops his glowing hand to his side. "You've gotten faster." 

Keith shoves his hair out of his face. "What about you?" He nods to Shiro's hand. "You really know how to use that thing now." 

Shiro looks at his metal hand, flexing the joints. "It feels more a part of me than it used to, I think." 

Keith walks over and takes his hand, tracing his finger along the metal seams. He always expects it to be cold, but Shiro's hand is just as warm as the rest of him, maybe even more so. 

Shiro's breath hitches. "It's sensitive." 

"Want me to stop?" Keith asks, and _wow_ , his voice got rougher in the past thirty seconds.

" _No_."

Keith keeps up his exploration, giving into the curiosity he's had forever about Shiro's arm. He follows the seams, the joints, all the places the metal merges together, listening to Shiro's breathing get more ragged with every passing moment. It's oddly thrilling to have this kind of effect on Shiro, who's virtually always composed. 

"Keith," Shiro says, voice hoarse. 

Keith stops and looks up, and Shiro's just staring at him, eyes dark with a desire that hits Keith like a punch to the gut. He fists his hand in Shiro's shirt, to draw him closer or to rip it off—he's not entirely sure which and both seem like _fantastic_ ideas—and he opens his mouth. 

The castle's warning system blares, and Keith is going to rip that damn thing out of the walls with his _bare hands_. 

"Are you freaking _kidding_ me?!" he shouts at the ceiling. 

Shiro drops his head to Keith's shoulder with a curse. "If this is another drill..." 

"Paladins, to your Lions!" It's Allura on the coms this time. "There are two Galra battle cruisers incoming. They'll be in range less than three doboshes!"

Keith freezes, and Shiro jerks up straight. Not a drill, then. 

He feels his mind snap into battle mode, and can see the same transition on Shiro's face. 

Together, they run for the bridge. 

 

**+1**

It's not an easy fight, not with two ships and the staggering number of smaller fighters they can spew out, but Voltron wins the day and frees the planets the two cruisers were occupying. All in all, it's a good day's work, but Keith's exhausted when they all finally get back to the bridge. 

Shiro yanks off his helmet. "Did any escape?" 

Allura taps the panels floating in front of her. "A handful of smaller pods escaped before the ships were destroyed, but they're all out of our scanner range. Not a threat, for now." 

"Are there any larger ships still in the system?" Shiro asks. "Any chance that we'll face another attack?" 

"If there were, they all zipped off as soon as Voltron appeared!" Coran says. "As far as I can see, we're the largest ship left in this system." 

"Good," Shiro says. 

He stalks across the bridge and grabs Keith by the arm, and Keith barely has time to think _what?_ before Shiro kisses him. 

It's a little awkward, because Keith is still wearing his helmet and they're in front of the entire damn _team_ , but at the same time it's not because Keith has literally been waiting for this for _weeks_ at this point. 

Shiro starts to pull away, and Keith grabs him by the nearest piece of armor—the edge of his chest plate—and hauls him back in. Shiro makes a little noise of surprise and Keith swears he feels it all the way down in his toes. 

It's probably only been a few seconds before they have to break apart, and Keith's a little dizzy with how hard his heart is pounding. 

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance are all gaping at them, and Allura and Coran have twin looks of utter confusion. 

Shiro doesn't take his eyes off of Keith. "We're going to my room, and no one is to disturb us for at least an hour." 

"Oh my God," Pidge says. 

Lance flails. "Wait, you're _dating?!_ " 

Keith tugs on Shiro's armor. "Better make it two hours." 

"Oh my _God_." That one comes from Hunk. 

"Since when have you been _dating?_ " Lance asks. 

"Two hours it is," Shiro says. 

Lance still looks utterly lost. "Wait, since when are you even _gay?_ "

Keith's initial instinct is to ream him for the assumption—he's bi, thank you very much—but Shiro's already dragging him out of the bridge and really, that is a conversation that can be had later.

Much, much later. 

He hears Allura ask, "What does 'dating' mean?", and then the bridge door closes behind them and Keith is more than happy to put the rest of his teammates out of his mind. 

And two hours later, when Shiro is half-asleep beneath him and Keith is tracing patterns along his chest, Keith will think that this was definitely worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://mad-madam-m.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/mad_madam_m)


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